Authors
Note: This is my first Zelda fan fiction. Actually
this is the first story I’ve ever written so go easy on me! Constructive
criticism please!

The
sound of clanging could be heard throughout the field that night in Hyrule.
Twelve year old Link was staying up late that night helping his grandfather,
Master Smith, make a sword as a prize for a tournament
in the Picori Festival. Link yawned and put his head
on the table. It was already twelve o’ clock and they had started making the
sword at seven.

“Link,
you’d better get to bed.It’s late,”
said Smith in his gruff voice.He looked
up and saw that Link had already fallen asleep. Chuckling, Smith scooped Link
up and placed him in his bed. “G’ night Link,” he whispered as he blew out the
candle.

Early
that morning clanging could still be heard as Master Smith put the finishing
touches on the sword. In Hyrule Field, Princess Zelda came
gliding down the dirt path with her silky blond hair trailing behind her.She climbed up the hill on which Links house
stood. Zelda carefully pulled the green door open and stepped inside. She
walked past the pile of dishes on the table and into the sword making room.

“Good
morning Master Smith!” said Zelda in a voice like tinkling bells.

Smith
looked up from examining his sword and exclaimed “Oh my! Princess Zelda! What
are you doing here? Did you sneak out of the castle and come all this way
alone? The prime minister must be worried about you. You know how he gets!”

“Oh
don’t worry about him! I do this all the time. Where’s Link? The whole town is
going crazy for the Picori Festival. People from all
over Hyrule are coming to see it. I thought that he and I might go together.
Would you mind?” she asked.

“Oh!
Is that what you’re here for? Well Link was up late last night helping me make
a sword, and he’s still asleep. But I do have an errand for him. Yes, I guess
it would be alright.” Master Smith cleared his throat and bellowed “Link wake
up!”

Link was sleeping soundly in his bed. “Link
wake up!” he heard. He sat up, yawned, and ruffled his hair. He put on his
shirt and tunic and walked into the kitchen. He walked past the pile of dishes
on the counter and into the sword making room.

“Good
morning Grampa, G’ morning princess,” Link did a
double take. “PRINCESS!?”Smith and Zelda listened as Link ran through
the house followed by a series of clattering and banging’s.

“Why
don’t you take a seat princess,” said Master Smith as he pulled up a stool.

“Thank
you Master Smith!” replied Zelda. Even though Link and Zelda had been friends
as long as they could remember, Link still liked to look nice around her.
Moments later Link came back in with his hair nicely combed and his tunic
smoothed out.

“Good morning your
royal highness,” said Link with a fake bow.

“Good
morning good sir! I twas… It’stwas right? No? I was wondering if you would be my
brave escort to the Picori Festival today,” giggled
Zelda.

“Why
yes milady! If only this good sir would let us go?” said Link with an almost
straight face looking over at his grandfather..

“Yes,
you can,” replied Smith. “But,” he said to Link as he was in mid jump, “you
will have to deliver this sword to the castle.”

“Great!”
he said grabbing Zelda’s hand and running towards the door.

“Wait!”
bellowed master smith.

“What?”
said Link.

“You
forgot the sword,” said Smith

“Oh…”
said Link.

“Now
run along!” said Smith.

“K’,
thanks, bye!” said Link and Zelda running out the door.

“Kids,”
chuckled Smith as he wiped his hands on a filthy rag.

As
Link and Zelda got outside Link said to her “Bet you a blue rupee that I can
beat you to the market. “

“Deal! But you’re gonna lose,”
taunted Zelda.

And
the race began. In the first ten seconds Link was already behind her. In the nextthirty he was
ten feet behind her. She runs like lightning, thought Link.She’s always been faster than me. Link
grinned as he remembered that time they were five. That was when all of this
racing had begun. Link had told Zelda that he would give her his “lucky green
rupee” If she won a race. He was positive that he would win because apparently
it was impossible for a boy to lose to a girl. They had raced and in the end
Zelda had won and Link was extremely angry. After five
more tries Link had reluctantly given away his special and lucky rupee.Over the next half hour he had pondered over
how she had done it. Link had decided that the Great Fairy had helped her win
since she was a princess.He grinned at
the memory.

Link
finally reached the gate to the Castle Town Market. Zelda was lying on the
ground by a tree playing with bits of grass.

“Well
it took ya long enough!” she exclaimed as she stood
up and brushed bits of grass off of her dress. “I always was faster. Come on,
let’s go see the town. I took the route around the market out of the castle so
I haven’t seen it yet.

As
Link and Zelda stepped through the gate to the town they stopped and gasped in
amazement. There were balloons and streamers hanging from every roof, little
golden stars were sitting on top of everything. There were exotic birds sitting
on top of flower pots and people from everywhere imaginable. There were stalls
selling fruits, cakes and candies. There were small figures and items, musical
instruments from all over Hyrule.

“Wow,” Link said

“Wow
is right!” exclaimed Zelda.“Ooh! Look
at that! Come on!”

“Wait
up!” Link shouted as she ran off.

Pushing
through the crowds Link managed to find Zelda by the stall of a story teller.
She beckoned to Link to sit down beside her in a crowd of sitting
children.There was a very old man
sitting at the front of an old and worn out mat.“Now, quiet down children, quiet down!”
shouted the old man. “That’s right, that’s right.” Slowly said the man as the
children quickly stopped the talking and whispering.

“Why
are we here anyway Zel? I mean, this is something for
little children!” he whispered to Zelda

“Quiet.
And we AREchildren. Anyway, this is the famous storyteller Horoshi.

“Horoshi?Who in Hyrule is he?” exclaimed Link

“Shut
up! He’s starting,” snapped Zelda.“Now children, listen up.
Ah-ah!” he scolded “No talking. Now,” he cleared his throat, “A long long time ago, before the age of legends, Hyrule was filled
with awful, evil and cruel beasts. Beasts even worse than darknuts,
or octrocks! Our dear Hyrule was about to be
swallowed by the darkness forever.” The old man paused for effect as the
children’s eyes grew wide.

The old
man chuckled and continued with the story. “But then the tiny Picori came from the sky, bringing the hero of men a great
sword known today as the Picori Blade and a golden
light with it. With that blade the hero drove out all evil from the land and
restored peace to the land. Now the Picori do exist
children. Many believe that don’t. Only can they be seen by children like you.
But the Picori can only be seen on the last year of a
century and this happens to be the one hundredth year!” exclaimed the old man.

The
children clapped and some cheered then slowly cleared away until only Link and
Zelda were left.

“Why
did we listen to that anyway Zel?” asked Link

“Because
I wanted you to know about the Picori,” answered
Zelda.

“You
don’t seriously believe in that, do you Zelda?” asked Link.

“Yes, I
do,” coldly replied Zelda.

“Come
on lets go to the next stall I wanna buy some of that
candy,” shouted Link so he could be heard over the crowd.

“I wanna enter the lottery over there,” said Zelda

“Zel, you know that no one EVER wins those,” exclaimed Link.

“Well
we’ll see about that! How ‘bout we split up. I’ll meet you at the archway
leading to the castle,” said Zelda.

“Deal,”
replied Link.

“She is
sooo not gonna win that!”
muttered Link as he purchases a mini model of a castle made entirely out of
chocolate and pretzels.

“Suddenly
a bell started ringing and someone shouted “We have a winner!!!!! Oh my
princess Zelda what prize do you want?”

“That
is NOT possible,” said Link to himself as he ran over.

“Ooh!
Princess Zelda, you could have this beautiful red jem
or this pretty heart shaped rock, or this little shield,” offered the Pina the lottery person.

“Hmm, I
think I will have the shield,” answered Zelda.

“But
Princess! What, what about the pretty jewel, or, or, the heart shaped stone.
They are much nicer than that nasty little shield,” exclaimed Pina .

“No I
think I’ll take the shield,” replied Zelda.

“Alright
then, Hyrule certainly has an odd princess!” exclaimed Pina.

“Link
this is for you,” said Zelda as she walked up to him.

“Aw Zel, ya shouldn’t have. You
should have gotten one of the stones for yourself. Want this half eaten
chocolate tower? No?” asked Link.

“No,
you keep that little mound of goo, and yes I should have. Anyway I need a
“protector” to guard me while we walk to the castle, SINCE WERE ALREADY LATE TO
THE TOURNAMENT!!!” shouted Zelda as she began to run off.

“ZEL!
WAIT UP!!!!! “yelled Link as he ran after her.

When
Link had finally made his way through the bustling crowd and ended up dropping
his half eaten chocolate castle in the street, he walked through the archway
with the bell and found Zelda waiting for him. She was tapping her foot and
looking impatient. When she saw him she yelled, “Hurry up Link!”

“Slow
down!” he yelled back at her.

“Not a
chance!” she answered.

Link
and Zelda made their way out of town and arrived on a path leading to the
castle lined by trees. Link was, as usual, about seven or ten feet behind
Zelda.

“Ouch!
Link get over here!” yelled Zelda.

Link
started running over and around a corner saw that a deku
scrub was spitting nuts the size of cuckoo eggs out at Zelda.

“Ouch!
OUCH! LINK GET OVER HERE WITH THAT SHEILD OF YOURS!” screamed Zelda

“COMING”
shouted Link as he ran over.

Link
ran up with his shield as the deku scrub began
spitting out more nuts and blocked them with his shield. The nuts shot back at
the deku scrub and hit him right in between the eyes.

“Ouch!
Oh sorry sir, please forgive me! I heard there was a festival, and I came
hoping to town hoping to hawk my wares. Unfortunately, we scrubs have the
tendency to spit when we speak! Everyone is scared and won’t buy anything. This
is a terrible place to do business I’m going back to my cave!” apologized the scrub.

“That
was weird!” said Zelda.

“Zel, look at your arm!” exclaimed Link.

There
was a large purple bruise on her left arm from the deku
nut.

“Oh noooo!
I hope the Prime Minister doesn’t notice!” exclaimed Zelda. “Anyway, we have to
get to the castle; it’s about time for the prizes to be giving in the
tournament! Hurry up!” shouted Zelda as she ran off leaving Link in the dust.

Link
and Zelda ran down the tree lined path and to the castle. As they reached the
castle Zelda realized that if she was seen going into the castle from the
market place that the prime minister might put guards on the exits so she
wouldn’t run away again. They decided that they had better sneak in the back
door.

Link
and Zelda snuck past the guards and into the castle. It was easy for Zelda
because she knew the routine of all the guards. They ran down the winding
passages and stairways and finally outside to the field where the tournament
was being held. They had missed the tournament and the winner was being
announced.

A
loud voice that Zelda recognized as her father’s boomed, “After a wild and long
competition the winner of this year’s tournament is, Vaati!
“

The
crowd went wild as a tall man stepped out of a tent where the competitors were
and stood in the middle of the stadium. This man looked very fierce and scared
Link very much but he didn’t show it. Zelda clutched his arm and whispered in
his ear, “Link, I don’t like that man. He scares me. His aura is the darkest I’ve
very seen one. Your aura is a light and a pretty green but his,” Zelda
shuttered, “His is blood red with black and purple swirling around it, like
poison.”

“I
forgot you could see auras Zel, he scares me too,” he
whispered back.

The
man was clad in a purple tunic with a dark purple cape with a strange symbol on
the back of it. He had a strange long hat with a blood red gem in the middle.
He had red sandal type shoes and his skin was a light purple. PURPLE. He had
long hair just below his shoulder and it was also a light purple. His smile was
wicked and he had pointed teeth, and worst of all is eyes were red. Only beings
corrupted by great evils could have red eyes.

The
King cleared his throat and announced, “Congratulations Vaati!
As winner you get two prizes. The first prize is a sword expertly made by Hyrule’s Master Smith! The second prize is the greatest
honor imaginable. You will get to touch the sacred Picori
Blade. The crowd cheered and went wild again. Vaati
just stood there with a wicked smile on his face.

Just
then a guard came over and took the sword from Link and gave it to Vaati.

“What
a crude and childish blade.”Vaati muttered as he tossed it to the ground.

Link
felt angry and wanted to hurt him. Zelda could tell by the look on his face
what he was thinking and took hold of his arm and gave him a stern look. He and
his grandfather had worked endless hours on that sword, only to have it called
crude and childish and to be carelessly tossed to the ground.

Just
then four guards came out of a door carrying a large red chest with a glowing
sword embedded in the top of the chest. Vaati’s
wicked grin grew larger and he let out and ice cold laugh that chilled Link to
the bone and sent many whispers through the crowd. “To think everything would
go so well! The Picori Blade and the Bound Chest
spoken of in Hylian lore… The chest must hold what I
seek! I will relieve you of its contents now!” Vaati
cackled.

The
guards were startled by what he said, put down the chest and started running
towards him with their spears. “Fools!” he cackled as with a wave of his hand
they were cast aside and severely injured. “As victor I have the right to
approach the sword you know!” he cooed.

Suddenly
a blue shining ball of light grew from his hands, and when speeding towards the
chest. The light sped towards the chest and broke the part of the blade that
was sticking out in half and blew it across the stadium.A great deals of screams started and people
began pushing and shoving their way out of the stadium. Suddenly the chest
began rumbling and burst open. All sorts of darkness, evils, and monsters flew
out of the chest and into the sky madly cackling with glee with their newly
found freedom. Some of them rushed at Zelda and Link but she deflected them
with a glowing force field. “Who are you and why are you doing this?” she
bravely demanded. Her voice slightly trembled as she spoke.

“Hmm
the princess with the mystic aura… The power granted to the royal family by the
gods still runs in ladies of the royal family’s veins? How interesting. You
will only cause trouble later. That will never do. TO STONE WITH YOU!” he
shouted. A black orb of light came from his hands and rushes towards Zelda.

“ZELDA!”
screamed Link as he ran in front of her with his shield held out but he was cast
aside by the magic, then everything went black.

A
few hours later Link woke up in a bed in the castle with Master Smith by his
side. Link shot up in his bed and exclaimed “Where’s Zelda!?”

“Link
you’d better lie back down, that’s right,” said Master Smith soothingly. “Link,
I’m afraid that Zelda has been turned to stone. I couldn’t believe my eyes when
I saw it. One second she was fine, then next she was stone!” exclaimed Smith.

Link
couldn’t believe his ears. One second. That’s all it took for something to be
gone from the world forever. Link felt like crying but no tears came. Right
then and there Link made a vow to defeat Vaati and
avenge what had happened to Zelda.

“There
is way to revive her Link,” said Master Smith.

“How!?”
exclaimed Link.

“Well,
only a child could do this. The King thinks you could be the one to doit. Would you like me to take you to him?

Link
nodded and jumped out of the castle bed and they started walking towards the
throne room to learn what he had to do to save Zelda.